From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

The number of issues that traded on the NASDAQ in any given week just prior to COVID was somewhere around 3500. Last week 5500 issues traded on the NASDAQ.   

Why It Matters: The number of issues trading on the NASDAQ topped out at over 6000 in 1997. By the time the NASDAQ 100 peaked in 2000, this number was already approaching 5000. As that bubble burst, the number of issues traded on the NASDAQ collapsed (dropping to 3500 by the end of 2003). Listings declined further during the Financial Crisis. The Technology sector has led the way lower in the current bear market and many former higher flyers are trading at pennies on the dollar. But listings on the NASDAQ have actually expanded since the index peaked nearly a year ago. It’s hard to think about the market healing when defunct companies haven’t yet been shown the door.  

In this week’s Sentiment Report we take a closer look at how options traders are feeling and what it might take from a sentiment perspective for the stocks...

This is the video recording of our November 9, 2022, Inside Scoop Weekly Strategy Session.

“Why do you rob banks?” authorities asked notorious bank thief Willie Sutton.

His response: “Because that’s where the money is.”

We're not planning on robbing anybody, but if today's trade plays out like we think it can, it might feel like we're stealing. Only, we won't need to worry about the authorities coming after us, nor will we need to feel bad about it.

Our Analyst Willie Delwiche says that a basic requirement for many bullish ideas right now is that any stock or ETF in question needs to be above August highs. Anything below August highs is subject to a rude reversal. I'm on board with this line of thinking.

So, today's trade is in an American bank that is above its August high and showing signs of wanting more.

We retired our "Five Bull Market Barometers" in 2020 to make room for a new weekly post that's focused on the three most important charts for the week ahead.

This is that post, so let's jump into this week's edition.

This week we're looking at a stock from the Leisure sector.

Wow.

What can I say?

This is the most chaotic turn of events I've experienced being involved with crypto. For those who somehow missed what's happening, here are the brief details...

One of the largest crypto exchanges on the planet, FTX, has experienced a significant liquidity crunch. As a result, Binance has entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire FTX, helping to cover the liquidity crunch.

Any and all funds held on FTX are now gone.

It's the biggest blow-up in the industry's history.

The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The largest insider transaction on today's list is a Form 4 filing by Alphabet Inc.

The tech giant reported a $17 million purchase in GitLab $GTLB.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The futures were not that volatile overnight.

Election night is over, but I we are still waiting for some results.

We called it the trade of a generation.

And it's worked great for us.

Now we have a similar setup and I think it can work out just as well.

Am I being creative with my trading?

Am I tinkering with new ideas, new money management algorithms, new mindsets, new products, new timeframes, or new workflows?

We don’t need to be trying all new things all the time. But spending time thinking about divergent ideas is a valuable practice.

When we exercise our creative muscles, we might find nothing other than a journey down an empty rabbit hole. But sometimes, we have epiphany moments that change the way we operate. These can be minor, value-added ways – or maybe even drastic, wholesale change kinds of ways.

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Going back to 1950, the S&P 500 has always always been higher one year after midterm elections than it was on election day. But over the shorter-term, the market has had a more mixed reaction to the votes being cast and counted.     

Why It Matters: Investors are looking for a catalyst that could help 2022 finish on a more positive note and allow 2023 to begin with some positive momentum. There is no denying the historical pattern for stocks to rally in the wake of midterm elections. No doubt there will be pockets of strength in this cycle as well. Some of the dominant themes that have been present already in 2022 (e.g. more volatility than strength and a deteriorating liquidity backdrop) argues for seeing evidence of strength before embracing the pattern.     

We take a Deeper Look at market challenges that aren’t going away just because the voting is done and where investors could look for signs that conditions are improving.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

I mentioned yesterday that we'd see volatility over the next few days, and the market delivered just that today.

After 1:00 p.m. ET the market took a nosedive. Then it started to level off and even rallied into the close.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

For weeks, I’ve been itching to call a top in the US Dollar Index $DXY.

Sentiment, volatility, and momentum thrusts have all suggested an end to the US dollar wrecking ball. But price hasn’t indicated any significant weakness in the structural trend.

The absence of confirming price action has made it impossible to take a bearish USD stance.

But that’s finally starting to change!

From the Desk of Louis Sykes @haumicharts

It's nearly impossible to switch off when you're invested in crypto.

I'm a little jealous of those solely involved with legacy markets; it must be nice to have an off-switch. In this part of the financial world, there's always something happening.

And my passion for the space often makes it difficult for me to let go.

But, last weekend, my hand -- indeed, my whole body -- was forced. A night in the ER and a few days bedridden with a gnarly viral infection overwhelmed my ardor for fake internet coins.

Happy to report I'm recovering. And here's me after I stumbled to my computer to catch up on the action:

It certainly helped get me in touch with all the confused people out there who aren't involved in this ecosystem. Much of crypto's comings and goings can often seem unworldly and completely foreign.

"This must be how normies feel..." I said to myself.

And now we can turn to the substance of this exchange war between Binance and FTX. It's so entertaining...

We've adjusted a position in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

Deerfield Asset Management continues to make splashes in the biotech space.

Its latest filing disclosed a whopping $21.7 million purchase in Nuvalent $NUVL.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Election Day is here, and the market has had a nice rebound off of last week's lows.

We have support on the $SPX at 3,800, and resistance is now at 3,824, then 3,843. $SPY support is at 378.20, then 376.55. Resistance is at 383.29.

Last night's Live Conference Call went great.

We had a lot to discuss as more and more stocks keep making new highs and fewer and fewer stocks are making new lows.

This transition first got going back in June.

But now things are really picking up.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @Alfcharts

This is one of our favorite bottom-up scans: Follow the Flow.

In this note, we simply create a universe of stocks that experienced the most unusual options activity — either bullish or bearish, but not both.

We utilize options experts, both internally and through our partnership with The Trade Exchange. Then, we dig through the level 2 details and do all the work upfront for our clients.

Our goal is to isolate only those options market splashes that represent levered and high-conviction, directional bets.

We also weed out hedging activity and ensure there are no offsetting trades that either neutralize or cap the risk on these unusual options trades.

What remains is a list of stocks that large financial institutions are putting big money behind.

And they’re doing so for one reason only: because they think...